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Awhile back I suggested that they simply go AROUND the wall but some lol booktard made fun of me for suggesting the idea. Seriously, are they incapable of building a boat? Build a medium sized one, float somewhere and steal a bigger one, return, keep upgrading until they have a respectable fleet.
But yes, I realize the answer to that is it doesn't work with the plot.
The answer is that they have basically nobody who knows how to sail any kind of boat larger than a rowboat. They're wildlings, they don't build much of anything and they don't know how to operate boats. Ygritte seems like one of the more knowledgeable wildlings and she still thought a 20 foot high windmill was a giant castle some lord lived in, remember? They really can't build ****. And the night's watch does keep manned castles at both ends of the wall.
As for 'Why they attack just the one point on the wall'. This was just an initial feint, and they can send individual groups over the wall or around the wall with ease. In fact, they already did that, remember? They sent some of their best over/around the wall to attack castle black from the south. They can't do it with everyone because Mance has a massive ****ing horde of people, and most of them aren't warriors, they're old/women/children/randoms.
Remember that they're not trying to be conquerors, but they're going because Mance knows what is up with the Others. He was able to unite them by telling them they'd all be dead if they stayed above the wall. They're running, and so they've got a huge amount of useless bodies. They NEED to take a gate, they can't send everyone and their supplies in a couple of boats, or over the wall, etc. And they did attempt to send some of their best over the wall in advance to soften the way.